This is hardly the time of year when anglers are thinking about catching trout; instead, bass, walleyes, and an assortment of panfish are probably what occupy their intentions on any given day. I understand since I too love to pursue a variety of the “warm water” fish species, but I’m also a dedicated trout angler and even during these summer days those “cold water” fish still get some of my time.

Certainly, this time of year the trout fishing can become more challenging, and one of the main reasons is that the water levels in our streams have usually dropped considerably. The water temperatures have risen, and trout definitely prefer those cooler temperatures. During a hot summer day, trout feeding activity may come to a complete halt, and oftentimes the best chances of hooking up to trout are late in the day after the sun has set or even at night.

What brought trout, and especially brook trout, to my mind recently was the news that the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission just recently passed some new regulations regarding trout fishing.

Under the new regulations, to keep a trout, it must now be nine inches long. Under the old regulations, a trout had to be only seven inches if you wanted to keep it. This is the first time that regulation has been changed in more than four decades.

While this change applies to all of our trout species, the native brook trout will benefit the most.

Pennsylvania basically has three trout species throughout the state-the brown trout, the rainbow trout, and the brook trout. Still, the only trout native to Pennsylvania is the brook trout, and I’m talking about the “native brook trout,” not the brook trout that is raised and stocked by the commission.

Pennsylvania’s native brook trout prefers smaller, colder headwater streams with good water flow, streams found in our more mountainous and forest-covered areas. These trout are slower growing and seldom reach those nine- and ten-inch numbers, so this change in the size you can keep will basically have a greater effect on our native species, and that was intended with the new regulation.

Most of the commission-raised browns, rainbows, and brook trout are already well over the nine-inch limit when they are stocked, often in the lower teens, so that the nine-inch limit will have little or no effect on those trout.

In addition to being harvested, our native brook trout also face mounting pressure from warming waters and habitat loss.

With the increased size limit, biologists estimate that more than 99 percent of our wild brook trout will be protected from harvest. That change will allow many more fish to survive long enough to reproduce multiple times, hopefully increasing our native population.

I have never been an advocate of harvesting native brook trout. Yes, I fish for them, but I do not harvest them. I prefer fishing lures and techniques that allow for easy and careful release to ensure their survival. For that reason, I do not suggest bait fishing since trout often swallow bait, making it more difficult to release them without harm.

I think it was a good move on the part of the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, and I look forward to seeing more and more of those bigger native brook trout showing up in our mountain streams.